SRT GT3-R Le Mans Racer Revealed

The engineers at SRT Motorsport have just finished preparing a Viper GTS-R racing car for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hour race, which the factory is running themselves, but they’re already looking forward to the 2014 season and the arrival of a new version of the SRT Viper that will compete in GT3 championships across the globe.

This is the new SRT GT3-R racing car that the factory is developing for customer teams to use in the twice around the clock classic event and other sports car races throughout the world. This GT3 Viper’s V10 has been slightly detuned but it still produces 680 hp and 640 lb-ft of torque.

The new machine has been produced by Riley Technologies, who are also responsible for the Vipers used in the American Le Mans Series. According to the factory, the SRT GT3-R uses a lot of the parts found in the ALMS model, which keeps the costs down, and a lot of parts from the production car also remain in place. But performance has been gained from a multi-disc race clutch, a six-speed paddle shift transmission from Xtrac and lightweight alloy wheels.

The purchase price of £297,000 is quite a bit more than the £75,000 you would have to pay to get an SRT Viper for the road, but that’s a small price to pay for a competitive racing car that will challenge the establish GT3 cars from Porsche, Audi and Nissan. Teams that race in the United SportsCar Racing GT Daytona, FIA GT3 and the Pirelli World Challenge GT will be able to use the car in the 2014 season.

Testing for next season is expected to start in August so SRT has opened the order book to potential customers. One machine has already been sold to an unnamed team but more will follow now that the SRT GT3-R has been revealed.